Persona: HEAVEN (Persona/Sword Art Online/Isekai Multicross)

AN: Late update due to work, computer problems and Atelier Ryza.


In a miraculous turn of events, four victims of the Sword Art Online Incident have awakened from prolonged comas, leaving doctors and loved ones stunned. The patients, whose identities are currently undisclosed, are part of a small group of victims caught in a prolonged comatose state, the cause of which remains unknown.

Representatives from the Ministry of Internal Affair's Virtual Division have expressed elation after learning of the new developments. "These cases are particularly rare," said an official. "It is hard to predict when other victims will awaken, so there may be more yet to come. We must continue to work diligently to help those who have yet to return."

VR experts have suggested that the remaining victims simply need time to reacclimate to a non VR environment, pointing to these awakenings as an indication that it is only a matter of time until all remaining SAO victims awaken. Out of an abundance of caution, the Virtual Division is urging all hospitals and family members to not forcefully remove the NerveGears still active.

The four patients, all women between the ages of 15 and 40, have been transferred out of the SAO wards and into regular rehab services. Initial investigations have revealed the victims retain no memories of their comatose period, with all reporting their last clear memory being an announcement that SAO was cleared.

---

SUNDAY - April 20th, 2025
Morning

The kimonos are spread out on the table end to end, all made of fine silk. There's a spread of every color and pattern, a dozen in total, each more striking than the last. You'd think you were preparing for a festival, if it weren't for the repurposed hospital supply closet the kimonos were stored in.

"Hiyori, just pick one," complains Meimi as she grabs the first pink kimono she sees from the end of the table, draping it over her wheelchair. You came to Yokohama General Hospital first thing in the morning to see how rehab was treating her— a welcome distraction from school. The last few days were met with endless silence, you've caught more than your fair share of classmates ducking behind corners or lockers the moment they saw you. Even your teachers were trying not to call on you. Skipping was suddenly sounding like a very attractive option, though you're certain everyone from the faculty on down was watching you like a hawk.

Despite the nearly hour long train ride to get to Yokohama, you're glad just to get out of your neighborhood, even spending the one day off you get each week to do it. Losing your anonymity within weeks of arriving at school was not part of the plan—and neither was having your entire class turn their backs on you.

Best distract yourself, and enjoy watching RECT Progress sweat in the meantime.

"I forgot how annoying these are to put on," Meimi whines, even pulling at the fabric of her kimono in her lap. It's miraculous what a bit of makeup can do. The sunken eyes, thin reedy hair, and frail body of a teenage girl trapped two years in a coma were carefully masked by the best beauticians Meimi's family could round up on short notice. You politely declined their services, but wearing a formal kimono was evidently non-negotiable if you were going to attend this meeting.

"Is there... some sort of rule I have to follow? If I wear something black did I just imply 30 years of misfortune upon your family?" you ask, genuinely unsure. The biggest meeting you've been to was a school assembly, a high-stakes meeting with the RECT Progress was not what you were prepared for. You hope that Mikami didn't actually go tattling to his boss about you.

We're still small fry, and that guy seemed too carefree to complain to his boss about something as minor as a high school girl. Even if she did invade his workplace.

"I... think there's some rule?" says Meimi, struggling and failing to think of a more concrete answer. "Been so long, most of the etiquette is outta my head. Welp, nothing for it, we're kids in the end. Nobody's gonna be too offended— it's more important to be seen as making an effort, perfection is for the adults."

"You sure about that?" you say, looking around.

"Nope, but what you gonna do about it? Go out there and ask Daddy for advice?"

Oh, pick the white one!
White it is. A nice neutral color.

"Are you sure I'm okay sitting in on this meeting?" you ask, suddenly worried about offending Meimi's parents. You don't know the details but the Tsurusaki family was rich, like so rich nobody even really knew how rich they were. Old money from Japan's boom economy, they didn't own or run companies but rather wielded the sheer weight of their investments to get whatever they wanted.

"I'll admit, it is... unusual? But I was in a coma for like forever, all I had to do was ask. I'm pretty sure I could order an assassination if I cried a bit."

Good to know.

"... did you give him a reason?" Cause it's sounding like Meimi's dad has absolutely no idea why you're here beyond spoiling his daughter.

"Uh... why are you here? I'm not even sure," asks Meimi, shrugging her shoulders, but stops with a wince of pain. "Ow... damn, overworked that muscle..."

You count off with your fingers. "First there's a mirage of the «World Tree» super-imposed onto RECT-Progress's headquarters. Second I heard from an employee that the president is personally handling all matters related to the «World Tree». Third, somehow, I think the «World Tree» is driving people to suicide. Fourth some man, AI or something called OBERON is running a mind control harem up there... oh, and Fifth I'm pretty sure RECT-Progress is violating labor laws."

"Okay. And... how exactly am I supposed to explain that to Daddy without sounding crazy? Since directly lying to him is a very bad idea... the best explanation is no explanation at all."

So we get to be wallflowers.
This is a meeting between company heads. You were lucky just to get that far. "Anything... I shouldn't do?"

"Daddy's a real stickler for tradition. It's why we get to wear kimonos instead of just plain old suits but unless things have changed greatly over the last two years, he mostly sticks to that just to intimidate his guests. Simple stuff, don't speak until spoken to, always stay behind me but never behind him, uh... just follow my lead? Oh and whatever you do... don't ask him for money, he'll send the ninjas to kill you if you do."

---

True to Meimi's word the meeting is formal. Stifling so. You're ushered into a large meeting room, complete with tatami walls you strongly suspect are just pasted over the concrete.

Meimi had to be snuck in first, simply because having her lifted out of a wheelchair in full view of guests would be considered too embarrassing otherwise. Her father next appears, a stoic, salt and pepper haired man in his early 50s wearing an ornate kimono. His eyes are thin and piercing, practically glowing under fluorescent hospital lights, trailed by a train of attendants.

He looks like a villain in a shonen manga.

You can hardly see the resemblance between him and Meimi. He enters the room, sits down at the head of the table, and doesn't even turn his head to look in your direction.

You aren't particularly surprised. Despite the dozens of empty chairs, you get to sit by the back wall, kneeling on the ground, alongside all the other attendants. You doubt he even cares you're here.

As the servants and staff file in one by one everyone remains silent, including Meimi who is seated at her father's side, although she does manage to turn over and mouth: 'Welcome to hell.'

On the Tsurusaki family's side, there are a full two dozen people, counting you, arranged in a loose semicircle behind the meeting room. The lone table, long and unadorned, takes up the center of the room. The only ones permitted to sit? The members of the Tsurusaki family.

"Announcing Yuuki-shacho of RECT Inc."
An older but solidly built man enters the room with a soft, easy smile. His expensive brown suit matches nicely with his neatly slicked-back hair. He exchanges formal greetings with the Tsurusaki family, but it's not hard to hear the weariness in his voice. You recognize him as the president of RECT Inc, the parent company to RECT-Progress, and also «The Flash»'s father. In many ways, Yuuki Shouzou is arguably the most important person in the room, however today he sits subordinate to Meimi's father.

After one final bow, he approaches the long table, taking a seat in the middle. "I apologize that we couldn't hold this meeting under more auspicious circumstances, Tsurusaki-sama. But please accept my sincerest apologies for the wait you had to endure. I understand how difficult it must be for you to come all the way to Yokohama."

The Tsurusaki patriarch sits facing him, nodding gravely. "We are deeply grateful that you could take time from your busy schedule to meet us, Yuuki-shacho. We appreciate your willingness to be here on such short notice. Please forgive our rudeness in not offering refreshments before we begin."

Yuuki responds with a forced, wooden smile. "I'm glad to see you're still in such good health, Tsurusaki-sama. It pleases me immensely to see you reunited with your daughter."

"Indeed," Meimi's father replies. "She has grown into a fine young woman."

"Yes, indeed. Daughters have a tendency to grow up fast, sometimes without their fathers even realizing it," replies President Yuuki.

"Of course. Alas an unfortunate thing that she spent so long in a dream, I fear it may affect her future prospects."

"It is a great pity. But I suppose that's the will of god."

A silent pause falls across the room, as the two men just glare at each other.

Alright, correct me if I'm wrong. Meimi's evil dad or something calls in RECT to embarrass them for leaving her in a coma for 2 years and change, and RECT counters by bringing in their president whose daughter is still in a coma. So if Meimi's dad complains directly it seems disrespectful, and if Asuna's dad calls him out it also seems disrespectful, so they're gonna dance around each other for 10 minutes and then break for tea?

That's pretty much what happens for the next few minutes, as you witness two lifelong champions of passive aggressive behavior hold a staring contest across the table. You're already bored stiff, but you don't dare speak up lest you draw attention to yourself.

So nothing of importance is going to happen. Of course, there's still one card that hasn't been played yet...
And you're waiting for it to happen. The oldest card in the book: throwing a subordinate under the bus.

"Tsurusaki-sama, if I may offer a more nuanced explanation. The technical intricacies of the Sword Art Online server systems are too complex for me to explain fully, but..."

"Of course Yuuki-shacho. You need not strain yourself educating us on matters outside your expertise."

You see the briefest twitch of annoyance on the president's face in response to the insinuation. "As you say, Tsurusaki-sama. By your leave, I have brought my subordinate, Sugou-san, who runs RECT Progress on my behalf to help answer your questions."

Meimi's father inclines his head slightly. "Very well," as if this was a spontaneous decision and not planned out far in advance. With a brief wave of the door a man walks through, evidently having been waiting behind the entrance the whole time.

He's very tall and thin, with the exact same hairstyle as his boss, almost purposing trying to mimic Yuuki Shouzou's appearance.
Long luscious locks. Golden hair draping his shoulders, and his skin polished crystal. Everything, his clothes, his body, his being is radiant.

His eyes are narrow behind thick-rimmed glasses, and his mouth is locked with the sycophantic smile of a working salaryman.
Shining eyes beneath perfectly sculpted brows, lips beckoning forth with the promise of sensual pleasure.

He's younger than you'd expect for the president of RECT Inc's most successful subsidiary. He gives a deep bow to everyone in the room, taking a seat behind his boss, introducing himself as Nobuyuki Sugou, manager of RECT Progress.
He makes you feel safe. He's everything you've ever wanted and everything you didn't know you wanted.

Meimi shifts, hand trembling, mere moments away from reaching out to him.

You see and yet you don't see. A Pooka flies through the cloudy Tokyo sky, seeking a destiny within a tree that is denied to him. A man smashes his brain against the wall, seeking a heaven denied to him. The same phenomenon.

You see yourself, standing beside you, golden eyes boring into the being descending onto this meeting room.

You see Meimi, eyes wide, tears of joy glistening on the edges. A dumb smile spreads from her face like an infection, leaving her eyes vacant, staring into Sugou's with drunken delight.

Her Persona, the blood-soaked fox, stands over her. Its crimson arms still soaked in human entrails hold her master, preventing Meimi from leaping into his arms.

Sugou introduces himself in turn to everyone in the room, lingering only briefly on Meimi. An imperceptible smile sneaks into his face before it's just as rapidly suppressed, the man seems both satisfied and relieved after seeing Meimi in the flesh.

The golden man steps forth, hand held out to Meimi, beckoning her forth. You cannot hear his words because they are not for you, but you can read them in the way he holds his hands, the way his brows lift, the way his mouth forms the words GWENDOLYN.

You have to do something.

DECK HIM!

What happens instead is something in the middle. You move to shout a warning while your Shadow lurches your body forward— the combination doing little more than cause you to fall flat on your face, your kimono getting caught on your legs sending you tumbling into the tatami floor.

The spell is broken as for one brief second the attention of the room shifts to you. One of the servants hastily helps you up and fixes your kimono in place, forcing your head down into a bow in one smooth practiced motion.

Nobody responds— it's clear you were expected to leave the room now.

Fuck that.

Meimi glances back, dazed and confused, but more coherent and more present. She shoots you a look of worry as if asking if you're alright with staying.

That's right, in the end, you were just a high school girl brought in on the whims of the heiress. It would be far more embarrassing for the patriarch to raise his voice at you - so you just sit there, silent, trusting that he was too obsessed with face and formality to bother dealing with you. A few seconds later the moment has passed, and the adults return to their conversation as if nothing happened.

---

"Well then, Sugou-san, let us begin our discussion. First, please tell us the details of how RECT Progress came to own Sword Art Online's servers, for the benefit of Tsurusaki-sama," asks President Yuuki.

"Certainly, sir." His voice is smooth and refined, it's hard to peel away. "We acquired control of the Sword Art Online servers soon after the closing of ARGUS. Due to a pre-existing contract with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the servers have been under our management since early 2023."

"Get to the point Sugou," asks the Tsurusaki patriarch, not bothering with giving face. "Why was my daughter trapped? And for so much longer than everyone else?"

"Ah, yes. I'm afraid the issue was out of my control," Sugou bows low again, pressing his hands together. "Our analysts hypothesize that prolonged FullDives lead to a condition we have termed VR-Dependency. Essentially the brain is confused by the lack of a FullDive input, and their cognitions are unable to accept that they have returned to a human body. Given the circumstances, I prioritized the safety of the victims hence my decision to not forcefully remove the NerveGears, lest we trigger some failsafe of Kayaba Akihiko. Luckily the situation has proven to be temporary, as is the case with your daughter. I am pleased to report 3 more individuals have now woken up. In time, the rest will no doubt be joining them."

"Sugou-san has my full support in this matter," warns President Yuuki. "As you know I am... invested in the successful rescue of all Sword Art Online victims. RECT Inc apologizes for any undue distress our incompetence may have caused you or your family."

"So I hear. I ask again, why my daughter? Out of all the other players? Was she targeted?"

It's hard to focus but hearing Sugou's voice... suppresses the reaction. Seeing him nervous and deferential in the real world blunts the radiance and wonder that hangs about him like a halo. Meimi is calming down— ironically her forced silence helps in masking her initial reaction.

He's bleeding into this world, just like the tree is. No doubt in my mind, this creep is OBERON.

You had your suspicions the moment you heard the «World Tree» was managed directly by him. But that still didn't explain what he was trying to accomplish or more importantly... how? What the hell was going on up there?

"I apologize Tsurusaki-sama, it was not my intention to be obtuse. Of the 300 players still trapped we have identified a few telling characteristics. Younger female players are more likely to be affected, my analysts speculate this is due to FullDive technology interacting with their growing brains in a hitherto unknown manner. Furthermore, of the 300 players we see many of them had ordered advance copies of the NerveGear - generally only released to the very wealthy or personal friends of ARGUS developers. It is possible these first-run NerveGears are simply tuned differently. It appears your daughter fell into both risk categories."

This is Sugou's defense, ironically by freeing Meimi you've proven the truth to his lie. Directly lying to a man such as the Tsurusaki patriarch would be extremely unwise... is it instead possible that the 300 trapped players were never planned to be held indefinitely? If the goal was murder there were more efficient methods.

I mean, guy's got a harem of 300 mind-whammied SAO players, ain't that reason enough? Half men, half women, maybe OBERON has egalitarian tastes?

Maybe the male players were being used for another purpose? Hell, you've met talking slimes already, it wasn't that hard to imagine them as test subjects, NPCs, monsters or anything in the middle.

I don't get it. There are harem VR games out there, if OBERON wanted to satisfy his psychic hypno slime girl fetish all he needs to do is browse the internet. There are easier ways to get his rocks off.

First run NerveGears, a transparent excuse. You've already noticed a pattern with young women - but another pattern is taking shape in your mind. Tsurusaki Meimi, Yuuki Asuna... a sample size of two but strikingly similar in background: two well-positioned heiresses. Were there other... high-profile victims you weren't aware of?

"Tsurusaki-sama, if I may, I'd like to apologize to your daughter directly. I would like to promise to both of you that I will not rest until all of the victims of Sword Art Online are returned safely to their families."

"...I hope this meeting was sufficient in assuaging your fears," says President Yuuki, no longer caring to hide his annoyance. "Sugou-san is a busy man, as we all are. Please permit him this indulgence, he has traveled a long way to offer his apologies."

This is all the meeting was truly meant to accomplish, two old men exchanging veiled barbs while giving each other face. From Meimi's explanation, it's not like RECT Progress could be seen providing compensation to the SAO victims - such an action would be tantamount to admitting guilt when, legally speaking, RECT Progress had yet to do anything wrong. The whole meeting was a way for her father to squeeze out some business concessions.

So Meimi's just some token her daddy's used to put pins into RECT Inc.
Maybe. Possibly this was arranged for Meimi's benefit alone, but you doubt it. She... still wasn't talking much about her family. It seemed their relationship was rather distant.

"...Tsurusaki-san," begins Sugou, walking towards Meimi, head bowed in deference. "I would like to offer my deepest apologies for the pain and inconvenience I have caused you due to my incompetence. Please know that this incident weighs heavily on my heart. I would like to offer any assistance necessary to help you recover from this ordeal."

Meimi's expression wavers between confusion and suspicion. The brief spell he had on her had clearly broken hold but some residual effects remain.

He reaches his hand out to her, smiling warmly.
Close your eyes and look.

The king of Alfs offers his hand to his consort, the ground around his feet is covered in flowers, and you see the branches of the «World Tree» invade the very room you're standing in.

"Please accept my sincere apologies."

"...Thank you," she replies, cautiously reaching out a trembling hand toward Sugou. He takes it gently and looks directly into her eyes.

The king's eyes glow with a baleful gold, piercing through Meimi's visage— you see her form flicker and for a second you see Lady Gwendolyn, the idealized body of Meimi reach her hand back towards OBERON.

PUNCH HIM.
But this time it's different. She's not alone, she doesn't need OBERON anymore.

"Meimi!" you scream out. The attendant next to you looks scandalized, President Yuuki glares at you in open annoyance. Meimi's father doesn't bother turning towards you, but you see him flinch.

Meimi slaps Sugou's hand away. You watch as the King's gesture of affection is ignored, unwanted even.

And you see it. The briefest moment of shock, anger... and confusion. This man came to this meeting expecting a certain outcome, and he wasn't getting it. A small part of you wants to laugh at him, but you hesitate to draw more attention to yourself.

"Your apology is accepted. Now leave, I am... weary," spits out Meimi.

Sugou looks surprised, even bitter but quickly adjusts his stance. With a single finger, he fixes his glasses and plasters on his fake smile. "By your leave, Tsurusaki-sama." With one final bow, he exits the room the way he came.

"It appears my daughter is dissatisfied with your employee's apology, Yuuki-shacho," says the patriarch, sensing blood in the water. "Certainly you can offer a more concrete apology than the sniveling of your underling?"

"This is a formal apology, not a request for concessions," President Yuuki continues, not breaking eye contact with the patriarch. "Please forgive me for being so blunt, but I feel you should hear this directly from me. My company, RECT Progress, has no connection beyond server maintenance to the remaining trapped players. We have nothing to do with the illegal operation of the NerveGear and Sword Art Online. Even if we did, there is no evidence linking us to the recent events of SAO. Your daughter was not taken hostage by RECT Progress, on the contrary, we have expended significant effort ensuring her safety. Please do not pursue this matter any further, Tsurusaki-sama, for both our sakes."

A long silence follows. After a few seconds, Meimi's father nods slightly. Perhaps he realizes that now isn't the time to press the issue. But he seems disappointed nonetheless.

"Thank you for your time, Yuuki-shacho," says Meimi, surprising her father by speaking up. "But before you go I beg you for an indulgence. I fear this may be an uncomfortable topic for you, but I hoped to talk to you about your daughter. We knew each other... inside."

The change in the President is instant. His face goes pale and his mouth hangs agape. He looks over at Meimi with trembling lips.

"Asuna..." whispers President Yuuki. "You knew her well? What..." he pauses, a million different questions crowding his mind, all fighting to come to the fore.

What? Meimi never interacted with «The Flash». You knew more about her on account of your spywork than she ever did!

"EVERYBODY OUT," roars Meimi's father, sensing matters were moving in a direction he did not anticipate. It was clear this included you.

Meimi turns and looks at you, eyes gesturing toward the door. Not the door you came from... but the door Sugou left.
That sneaky little fox.

You get it. Meimi was going to bullshit some stories about Asuna to keep the President and her father stuck in this room for as long as possible. Sugou came here with President Yuuki— he was stuck here, probably right outside that door, waiting for his boss before going back to work.

This was your chance. You got vanishingly little from this brief conversation, beyond confirmation of who exactly OBERON is.

The attendants shuffle out backward, yourself part of them. When you peel away to move towards the door Sugou entered from nobody turns and bares you any mind, every one of them too obsessed with protocol to question your activities. You've seen more initiative out of the boars on Floor 1.

"I still remember the day Asuna saved me. I was a poor businesswoman, trying to do my father proud, when I got ambushed by a group of hideous brigands. Your daughter, why, she saved my life that day. We've been the best of friends ever since..."

With a last glance at Meimi, already launching into the fakest account of «The Flash» you've ever heard, you exit the office from the door Sugou left, closing the door behind you.

---

Hopefully, Meimi can keep them occupied for a few minutes. God, you're going to need to get Asuna to corroborate the bullshit. Knowing Meimi it'll end up sounding like a crappy light novel plot in the end.
Once we rescue «The Flash» from glowy man's sex dungeon I'm sure we can squeeze a few concessions out of her.

And you see him, sitting on a lounge chair in the hospital hallway. He's... tapping away on his phone with a look of intense concentration. Guess fairy kings got bored too.
He's probably a gacha whale too. As if we needed more reasons to hate him.

You don't approach but just... examine him. Was OBERON a conscious invocation for him? You possessed a Persona, Meimi did too. You... strongly suspect this power you have isn't unique, or at the very least it could be granted. Was OBERON a Persona? At least right now... you can see only the faintest outline of the fairy king. It was hazy, and distorted, like how the «World Tree» first appeared to you during those days you were certain it was just a hallucination.

He looked almost... normal, no different from Mikami-san. An office worker called in for an annoying job, wasting time away on some phone game while his boss faffs around with the investors.

Start with small talk, sound him out. Your typical MO when dealing with skittish customers. If it worked for getting murder contracts it should work for this.

"Excuse me, Sugou-san?" you ask softly, taking a seat next to him.

Sugou looks up at you and freezes. The phone slips out of his hands and enters his pocket, but he seems pleasantly surprised. Seems he wasn't opposed to talking to you.

Guy's probably a pervert anyways, loosen your kimono, it'll help!

Ignoring that terrible advice you give him a light bow while remaining seated. "I wanted to apologize for my outburst. I've been Me-ah, Tsurusaki-sama's attendant for some time. After awakening from that... terrible, terrible prison she's been ashamed to touch people or be touched. I fear the lack of strength is traumatizing to her."

"...I see," Sugou says quietly, "It seems I failed to consider her situation. Please render my apologies to your lady when you get a chance."

Good start, he's receptive to small talk. Next step, flattery.

"I wanted to thank you for the work you've done keeping the Sword Art Online victims alive. Truth be told ever since my lady became trapped I've followed the situation... very closely, and if it wasn't for you and your company I fear she may have died the moment ARGUS shut down."

"...It was my duty to help," he says, "but your thanks is appreciated nonetheless."

"If I may be so forward, I still find it hard to grasp the specifics of how Sword Art Online was able to happen. It seemed like VR systems practically popped up overnight! I've spent many sleepless nights trying to make heads and tails of the research, but I fear the details are too confusing for a novice such as I."

The topic seems to have caught his interest, as his previous politeness gives way to the briefest flash of interest. "I wouldn't be surprised. VR systems are based on applications of Cognitive Psience, a relatively new field altogether. I don't believe they even teach classes on it."

You nod vigorously. "I have tried to follow it Sugou-san, but I hear you're quite the expert on Cognitive Psience. I've read some of your work on memory modification, but much of the details go over my head. I'm rather interested in exploring it as a career once I graduate."

"Oh? It seems you're already getting a headstart," he says, eyes glancing just slightly down at your body. "I would love to hear your opinions on my work, even if it's a layperson's perspective."

He's calling your bluff, albeit unintentionally. Easy, just tell him what he wants to hear.
"I think the critics are blowing the risks way out of proportion. I mean... if you could learn English in my sleep, why you could upend the entire educational system!"

His eyes light up as he chuckles at some inside joke. "They truly have no vision. But Cognitive Psience cannot download memories or personalities like video game cartridges. You still have to learn, I just envision a world where it's... easier."

"I was hoping you could explain how it works a bit more, much of the terminology goes over my head," you continue, giving him the best smile you could fake.

"Of course, of course! It's really quite simple. You know how some... memories stick in your mind? Big events, marriage, the first day of school - these you remember quite naturally." He idly adjusts his glasses in you quickly recognize to be a habitual twitch. "But at the same time, the most random of events can stick with you forever— I still remember the ending of a visual novel I quite enjoyed in grade school despite it being years!"

You nod along, all ears.

"Cognitive Psience is the study of how we perceive and process the world around us, which includes how memories are formed." He was already gesturing with his hands, eager to share. "Simply put different people prioritize different things - an MMO player will have no problems remembering build numbers, but would struggle to retain knowledge of say, batting averages for baseball players. By changing your priorities you change how easily memories are formed. Adding memories is not so much inserting thoughts de-novo, but more creating situations where memories are more easily formed. It's fairly similar to... operant conditioning if you're familiar with the term. If I wanted to teach someone English rather than just rote memorization, you can use a VR system to change a person's cognition that they're a native speaker, that speaking English is right, normal, and pleasurable. Put them in a state where not speaking English feels alien and even distressing."

"Could this be applied to learning skills?"

"Learning skills... say you wanted to learn how to perform Kendo. Rather than downloading memories of a martial arts master onto your fluctlight, I could generate a set of movements mimicking Kendo strikes into a learning package - essentially letting the VR system guide you to perform the motions of Kendo without you learning it. This is already being done in many fields. Where memory augmentation comes in is tying those actions to your cognition - by making you believe you are a swordfighter you will naturally learn Kendo faster and more readily, usually with only a modicum of practice."

Yeah, I can see absolutely no way this technology can be abused.
You smile and nod, as Sugou goes more and more in-depth. This man truly loves hearing himself talk.

K'. Hear me out. That bad idea you thought of and then immediately dismissed? Do it. Cause we ain't getting anywhere like this.
...no? It was truly a stupid idea.

So what? Listen, what exactly can this guy do to you right now!? He's in a damn hospital hallway and he doesn't even know our name!
You could just... out him. Right here and right now. Accuse him of being OBERON, of orchestrating the kidnapping of every remaining SAO player, and make him sweat. He doesn't know who you are, he doesn't know your name, and you're just a random stranger to him - and you doubt Meimi or her father will give your name to him even if he asks.

Right now you weren't sure exactly how connected this man was. If you spook him here in the real world, what would happen in the virtual one? If a change, any change occurred in Alfheim, especially with regards to the World Tree that would prove his association beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Or you could drop this right now. Fight him in the virtual world where you can bring the power of Persona to bear. Right now at least you know who you're dealing with.

Your second bad idea? That's a REALLY bad idea. Don't do it.
Loosen your kimono, and openly flirt. See if you can trick him into another meeting. Play into whatever fantasy he has.

When in doubt just act crazy. That's always an option.

---

AN: I am weak to crossover references.


SUNDAY - April 20th, 2025
Morning

Meimi has given you a rare opportunity, one where you go face-to-face with your supposed enemy. But right now you have to remember, it's not just Sugou's boss on the other end of that door - it's also Meimi's father. You've been pushing your luck all day, but you draw the line at forcing Meimi to bear the punishment for your aggressive actions.

You need information, but you don't need your closest ally and friend eternally grounded.

There's still one card you can play. The man behind OBERON doesn't know who you are right now - you could be an enemy, an ally, even a target for him. You need information but more importantly, you needed him DISINTERESTED in you. You do NOT want this man expending any effort trying to hunt you down or thinking any harder than he has to about this encounter.

So it puts you in an awkward position. How do you get him to give you information while also wanting nothing more to do with you?

Oh shit. Why do you just keep getting bad ideas?
You smile at Sugou, summoning every last ounce of willpower you possess. In exchange you feel OBERON forming around him, its attention focusing on you, a pressure building as it stares into your eyes and you desperately try not to stare back. No, not this. You won't accept this.

You grab hold of the last shreds of dignity you possess before dragging it to the side of your brain and killing it. You've been speaking softly to him, sneaking the faintest whispers of interest and flattery, but that angle is no longer serving any purpose. Your previous bashful but star-struck persona is immediately tossed out the window. No, what is needed now is not subtlety and insinuations.

What do you need now?

Please don't.
You need to SQUEAL.

"That's AMAZING, Sugou-san!" you speak, driving your pitch an octave higher, trying not to choke on your spit. "Your work is inspiring! INGENIOUS!"

You see the faintest hesitation behind Sugou's glasses. A gnawing confusion grows in Sugou when he notices the change in your personality. You feel the weight of OBERON immediately falter. "Thank you, young lady. Cognitive psi-"

You practically jump forward, forcefully stretching your face into a gradually more unhinged grin. "YES! Your work on memory is going to revolutionize the world, what else can we expect from the genius who created ALFHEIM ONLINE!?"

"O-oh. You're a fan?" asks Sugou, already dreading the answer. That's right jackass, your intellectually stimulating conversation just became an impromptu groupie ambush. You already see him glancing at the door.
Boss ain't gonna save you now.

"A FAN!?" you reply, raising your voice to a near shriek. "I'm not your fan. I'm your greatest fan! I can't feel alive unless I'm flying through the air, and I have you to thank for it!"

"That's grea-"

"How did you do it? How does flying feel so natural and amazing? Oh, I can't wait to become an Alf, I'd make sure my feet never touch the ground!"

Sugou's left eye twitches ever so slightly. Right now he's in a hallway inside of a hospital, ostensibly a quiet environment, but the moment he makes a scene there's bound to be attention drawn to him. "As we were discussing earlier, teaching flight involves modifying your cognition to make you believe you can fly, then using that as the basis to teach-"

"So what you're saying is you're making me believe flight is even more amazing than it already is!? Everything is so cool and feels so real it's unbelievable. And things feel so different between the different forms! I mean, I should know, I've got 9 accounts, I simply had to try every single race!" you ramble, slowly inching closer while gauging his reaction. Whatever interest he previously showed has dried up faster than your dignity, and to your satisfaction, you see him slightly recoil.

You don't know what Sugou's worst nightmare is. But you're pretty sure his second worst nightmare is being trapped in an enclosed space with a rabid fan girl he's socially obligated to humor. You plan on making this nightmare a reality—and thanks to his boss being next door he doesn't even have the option of fleeing!

"Really?" he asks diplomatically. "I'll have to pass your compliments to the dev team."

"You must!" you shout, stepping toward him. "They deserve them. YOU deserve them! And if you'd like I can personally write you a letter... oh, speaking of letters can I get an autograph!? Please?"

"I'm afraid I'm a busy man, I thank you for your patronage of RECT Progress but I must refrain from such acts of... celebrity," he says, visibly straining to hide his disgust. You can feel the pure frustration radiating off of him— he wants nothing more to do than run away, call security or outright yell at you. Too bad his boss is right next door and he can't make him lose face.

Interesting. I can't make out OBERON anymore.
Point for it being an unconscious ability, or perhaps he cannot deliberately invoke it in the waking world?

"PLEASE!?" you ask, obstructing his view of the hallway.

For a second you think he's going to lose his temper, but aside from gritting his teeth, he seems resigned to his fate. Seeing no other option, he grabs a sheet of paper off the desk and begins writing a quick note.

"Here. Now please, I'm a busy man so-"

You grab the sheet out of his hands, his pen scratching a line in the paper as you jerk it away. "Oh my god, this will be worth so much money! But don't worry Sugou-sama, I wouldn't dare think of selling your precious autograph, this will be my greatest treasure!"

"..." He looks at you as if you've gone mad. "You're welcome. Now I must ask you to leave, I'm expected back in the office any second—"

"Oh, don't be so bashful! We got plenty of time until your boss gets here! I mean, if I were in charge, I'd make you president of all of RECT Inc, considering your vision. Your DRIVE! Don't you think so Sugou-sama?"

"Yes, yes, now could I ask for some priva—"

"Oh, of course, I forget myself! You're a busy man, I understand completely! I've heard the rumors you're working on the next update right, right? Everybody's talking about it! Please, please, please give me a hint! My friends will be so jealous!"

"Such matters are confidential young lady, I cannot-"

"C'mon, just a hint!? I've been following ALL the news! Is it true the update's dropping next month!? And do we get anything for reaching the «World Tree» earlier? What do you think of the rumors that the world quest is deliberately impossible to beat? And can you nerf the Leps? I want to craft but I don't want to live in a shoe! By the way, you should also make character creators free, you'd make so much more money from new players that way. There's not enough tentacle monsters, everyone loves tentacle monsters - did you hear about SAO? I heard it was full of tentacle monsters. You should really consider adding more. Oh and how come we haven't seen Titania yet, isn't she like super famous in the lore? Next update? Oh, I know, you should add GUNS to the game! Think about it, beautiful fairies flying through the sky but with GUNS!"

This is the strategy, hastily cobbled together at the last minute. Be peskier than a tutorial fairy and stress Sugou as much as you can. You won't get any facts out of him, but instead, you can gauge his reactions. You've already seen him mentally manipulate Meimi even in the real world— what is the extent of that ability? He didn't seem to be manipulating his boss, and if there's any situation where mind control powers would come in handy it's this one. Maybe he needs an extra push.

"...And do you have a girlfriend, Sugou-sama?"

His eyes widen a bit in surprise. "Wha...? No, of course not. I'm engaged."

"Really? That's sad to hear when you have so many admirers! I mean, you're such a smart guy, I bet you could have a whole harem! The harem would be soooooo epic! Like, six girls in a row! Why, I'm sure your fiancé won't mind you sharing."

He frowns, then furrows his brow further. "You... have quite an active imagination, young lady."

A brief flash, for a split second you see the incandescent fairy king turn his attention to you for the briefest of moments. OBERON reacts to the word harem— but compared to the force of his presence in the meeting room in the hallway it's subdued, muted, only just coming out when you started talking about his love life. Did it only work on people he was interested in?

But then the man at Tokyo Tower. Was he being bewitched by OBERON... or by Alfheim Online itself?

"Hahaha, of course! It's just a thought! Just something fun to play around with! But listen Sugou-sama, I'd really like to talk to you about the update! You still haven't told me anything about it! What's up on the «World Tree»!? People are dying to know!"

"ENOUGH, I've been patient but you need to leave me alone!" he snaps, roughly pushing you away from his personal space, all traces of OBERON vanishing in the process.

But you're not going to let that stop you. "Oh, sorry! I forget myself sometimes, but I'm just so excited. I know, I know, confidentiality and all that - but c'mon, just a hint!? I promise I'll leave you alone after, I'm just so excited I can't stop talking! Can you tell me about the «World Tree»?"

He sighs deeply. "It's an update at the end of May! That's all I'm willing to say and that's final!"

"So it's basically like an expansion pack?! Is it going to be another area added to the existing map? Or will it expand the size of the map? How big is it? Do you know if it's going to be playable solo? Where is it exactly? Are there monsters? Will there be new races? New equipment? What kind of new weapons can we expect? Can you tell me!?"

The question barrage continues unabated. He mumbles out a few noncommittal lines but reveals nothing of consequence— not even the fluff that devs usually happily revealed to drum up interest.

You have a theory. While Sugou certainly wasn't going to reveal major details it was strange he didn't have a pre-canned response or practically anything concrete to say about the next update. The rumored Alfheim update was the strangest update you've ever heard of: no official announcement, just rumors essentially... no trailers, no assets, no teases.

An update to Japan's most popular VRMMO? There should be magazine covers, press tours: everything. This thing should be hyped to eternity - you should be seeing Alfheim Online advertisements plastered on the side of subway trains. Instead, the update doesn't even have a NAME.

Even Sugou seemed to lack details.

"That's enough, that's enough!" he shouts, "Here is my final answer: the upcoming update is being worked on by the highest levels of RECT Progress. It's not an expansion pack, simply it's an addition of another system to ALO - it's less of an update and more of a patch. Now leave me be you sniveling harpy!"

You think you've exhausted what patience he has.
"Well, I guess you don't want to tell me. Guess I'll have to wait until the update drops, huh?"

"That's right. Now scram, I'm busy."

With that, he rises from his seat and makes his way back to the meeting room. You've annoyed him enough that he was finally deciding that bothering his boss was going to be less trouble than dealing with you any further. At least you're certain he's not going to be expending any effort hunting you down.

---

Meimi is struggling, grunting with exertion as she takes one step forward, then two, three, four, five. She has managed to take ten steps before her legs give out and you have to grab her arm to slowly set her to the ground.

She lies on the ground, panting heavily.

"Gah, gaaaah..." she groans, needing to catch her breath for a few seconds.

"You sure you don't want to use the walker? Or at least a cane?" you ask, Meimi was desperate to return to full strength and was already trying to walk without any assistive devices.

"Tch... just gotta... work a bit harder. I'm... happy to hang out... but this is kinda embarrassing..."

"It's fine, it's okay," you say, helping her up into her wheelchair. "Just take your time. Let's go inside and rest for a while."

"Okay..."

You've been at it for a few minutes, bouts of physical activity followed by periods of rest where Meimi recovers her energy. She's certainly trying harder in rehab than you were— it probably helped that she didn't wake up with the initial wave of SAO victims. Your rehab courses were more like classrooms as they packed dozens of SAO survivors in at once.

"So... get anything out of that bastard?" asks Meimi, as she gulps from her water bottle.

"First off what was that earlier!? I saw OBERON..."

Meimi is momentarily silent, holding her head in discomfort. "Sorry, you had to bail me out there. I didn't realize he was OBERON, but just being near him I felt... I don't know. I just felt like I had to support him, do whatever he wanted, please him however he wanted."

Even passively you understood what Meimi meant. It was like he had this... aura about him. It was as strong as it was artificial.

"Will you be okay? If we fight him..."

"Hey, don't try to cut me out of this. I managed to resist him. I WILL resist him."

Meimi is... committed. You think that even if she's vulnerable to OBERON she needs to face him, to prove he has no more control over her.

"I think, from what I can tell, it doesn't seem to be an active ability," you begin saying, "The more I annoyed him the weaker OBERON became. From how everyone else reacted I don't think your father or even Sugou's boss were affected by it."

"So what? Some kind of hypnotic love juice that only affects girls? Ugh, sounds like the plot of a porn game."

You shake your head. Unless you were mistaken none of the attendants in the room seemed to react.

"Maybe it only affects ALO players?"

"Seesh, just perfect. So even if we make it up the «World Tree» do we have to worry about falling in love with him? What a fucking raw deal."

"We don't need to worry about that now anyway," you say, "At least, not yet. I'm still not sure what exactly he's planning..."

Meimi nods, reclining in her wheelchair. "I got a bit out of RECT's Prez about Sugou. He seems to like me now, so he was pretty chatty after a few minutes about his daughter."

"Ah... sorry about embarrassing you during the meeting."

She waves you off. "Nah, don't worry about it. Daddy couldn't care less, rather, he's over the moon. I fed so much bullshit to Yuuki-shacho that he thinks me and Asuna were BFFs in SAO. He even invited me to dine at his house - which daddy happily accepted on my behalf. Shit like this is where like 90% of his business is done."

"...will you be okay? We're just making stuff up at this point."

"Eh, we can get our stories straight later. I'm just telling the guy what he wants to hear. I fed him some sob story about Asuna breaking down and missing her mom or something, he ate it up."

You can deal with that house of cards at a later date. "So what did you learn about OBERON?"

"Not much. Turns out he's actually engaged to «The Flash». Bit strange to consider— the marriage can't very well go through if one side is comatose. So say he really is keeping «The Flash» trapped in ALO. What does he stand to gain from it?"

"...wasn't she involved with «The Black Swordsman»? I'm not sure of the details, I stopped getting updates on her after LC collapsed, but I'm pretty sure they were together." You remember reading many a rambling report from the «Knights of Blood Oath» spy complaining about a 'stupid babyfaced lying dickwad beater' corrupting his precious Asuna-chan. You wonder what happened to that spy after LC ended, he sounded like he had issues.

Considering what happened to everyone else? Probably free and working at a gas station or something.

"Yeah, and so? She's engaged. Even if she had a game boyfriend that doesn't mean anything IRL. The moment she wakes up her folk can marry her off— presuming this is what Sugou wants, it doesn't serve him any purpose to delay that. Think about it, if Asuna was awake right now... Sugou would get everything. He would become the heir to his boss's business. But so long as Asuna is in a coma? The whole thing is on ice."

"I mean, if she's already in love with someone else, couldn't she cut off the engagement?"

Meimi stares at you like you just grew an extra head. "Whaa? You serious Hiyori-chan?"

"Well, yeah? It's not like she's married, she could just turn him down and..."

"Phff. I wish it were that simple for people like Asuna... Look, I'm a psycho and even I realize that I owe... everything to my family. Can you imagine the shitstorm that would follow if Asuna made a fuss and canceled the engagement, and Sugou went public about it? Just... let me give you a hypothetical, k?"

You sigh. "...okay."

"To the world at large, who is Sugou? He's a VRMMO designer, cognitive psientist, and most importantly... he's the guy who the government assigned to maintain the servers keeping all the SAO players alive. He could rightly claim that he's devoted two years to keeping Asuna alive! He's not a household name but in the business world he's known as a rising star."

Meimi leans forward. "RECT's prez is getting old - and Sugou's the obvious successor. I hear Yuuki-shacho has a son but he's far too young. What RECT Inc needs right now is a transitional leader, one in the family, and marrying off Asuna to Sugou is the best way to ensure a seamless transition of leadership without upsetting investors. Simply put, Sugou being the fiance is convenient to RECT Inc, which means it's convenient to tens of thousands of people. And unless «The Flash» is a lovestruck idiot, she should know this too."

The business of giving face and appearances.

"So let's say she's got a stand-up dad. Asuna wakes up, wants to marry joe bozo from SAO, and breaks off the engagement with the full support of her father. What happens? A fucking scandal is what. SAO survivor breaks off years-long engagement with hand-picked successor, who by the way has been keeping her alive, and marries rando SAO player. The tabloids would have a field day: 'Sugou, the NTR King!', they'll write bestselling dramas about it. Stocks fall, RECT will be a laughing stock, a meme, everything you don't want in a multimillion-dollar business. People might lose jobs, desperate office workers might jump off of buildings."

"It's not what you do that's really important, it's what you're seen as doing..." you mutter.

"Yeah. Sorry, I... been thinking too much about this crap lately. But that's how it is. You know it's not like there's an evil cackling demon parent holding the girl in a birdcage. If Asuna... just said fuck image, fuck face, I'll do what I want for my own happiness then who suffers? It won't be her, she's rich and safe. It'll be the sad worthless salaryman cut during corporate restructuring. It'll be some idiot kid who gets beaten by their dad getting drunk after his bonus gets canceled."

Meimi looks out the window, biting her lip. "Put it another way... what's more important? The happiness of one person? Or the convenience of ten thousand? You get me?"

"...yeah. You're in the same boat..."

Meimi rolls her eyes. "Don't read too much into it, idiot. But trust me when I say this— if Sugou just wanted to inherit RECT all he had to do was nod his head and let the ball roll down the hill. He's gotta be trapping Asuna and all the rest of the SAO players for a different reason, but it's not one I can wrap my head around."

>For helping Meimi with rehab your EMPATHY has greatly increased! ♪♪♪♪♪♪

---

SUNDAY - April 20th, 2025
Afternoon

You lift the filter mask off your head.

This whole week you've been building your gunpla, step by step, day by day. Most of your time was spent filing down nubs and setting up your airbrush station. You're not exactly sure how exactly VR paint works or what makes it compatible with VRMMOs.

But you do know that whatever it was made of, you didn't want it in your lungs.

It's now the final part— the most important but also the most anticlimactic. Assembly.

You'll never understand people who just buy a kit and then shove it together in half an hour, what's even the point? Just buy a damn figure. The joy of model building was in the extra steps, the sweat, the care! Mixing paint, filing nubs, layers! Never just one coat, you have to layer! And model lining with markers? Were you an elementary school student? Capillary action does the work for you and looks nice to boot.

Now one more clear top layer to seal it all together...

And it's done! The plus-sized Jegan of your dreams! The DILANZA SOL!


You take a moment to admire your handiwork on the miniature mech. There are no visible seams, everything lines up, and even the paint job's really good. It's... perfectly functional. Kinda. Just... looks exactly like the box art, which is just... fine.

Looks ready to be blown up in the third episode.

It needs something extra, a little pizzazz. Maybe another kit to add some modifications? You had an Amusphere now too, so technically you could play Gundam Battle Nexus now if you had any free time to spare between school and saving the world.

>By building your first VR Gunpla and managing not to give yourself a fatal lung disease in the process, your GRIT increases! x3! ♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪
>Your GRIT has advanced to [Pushover]!
>Looking at your chunky mook fills your heart with 10 DETERMINATION!
>You now have a VR functional Gunpla! Too bad it looks boring!

---

sunnudagr - 20th of Einmánuður
Afternoon

"PERSONA!"

Try screaming harder, I'm sure it'll work.

"SYSTEM CALL!"

It's been an unproductive afternoon. Your Amusphere finally arrived in the mail, fresh off the factory floor complete with a 100-page user manual detailing all of its revolutionary safety functions. It took you an hour just to set up the safeword, recalibrate the inputs and then sign about 20 separate EULAs. You even had to manually input your weight and height.

Never thought you'd say this, but the NerveGear? Infinitely more user-friendly. Just turn it on, sit through a 5-minute high-power brain scan, and you're off to save the world or die trying. Literally.

But the Amusphere had its benefits. In hindsight, the NerveGear running only game cartridges was a clear indication that SAO was never actually designed for mass distribution. In contrast, now years after release, the Amusphere had a smorgasbord of VRMMOs, educational programs, virtual classrooms... all in a unified application store accessible straight from the main menu. Emails, browser, television— the thing was a home entertainment system rolled into a PC all packaged in a sleek little white headset.

Signing into your ALO account from the Amusphere, you immediately realize what Meimi was complaining about. Things just felt more... muted. Subtly so, but enough for you to notice. Before you could feel the wind fraying against your wings as you flew across the sky or practically taste the damp forest. Now your wings had no feedback, the forest just smelled like mud, and most distracting of all if you focused hard enough you could even make out the faint outline of your apartment's ceiling fan. You've seen advertisements for FullDive sensory deprivation chambers— ¥10000 to spend an afternoon in a coffin hooked up to an IV sounded like the height of insanity, but now you're beginning to see the appeal.

You've... more or less been able to use your Persona whenever you like, the only requirement being the cooperation of your Shadow. It's still a... strange feeling invoking a Persona. You feel its soul, its history seeping into you, rooting itself into your consciousness and then retreating just as quickly. What's even more concerning is your Shadow - she insists she's in control when you invoke the Persona, but you don't feel like you've lost control. Only once the Persona wears off do you realize that you've been acting differently than usual.

"PERSONA!"

This isn't working.
It really wasn't. No matter how hard you try, no matter how many pretzels you wind your brain into, you can't manifest a Persona while using the Amusphere.

What a waste of money.
At least there's the app store. You promised your friend that you'll try some otome games, the least you could do after she got herself in trouble covering for you. After that stunt with the water hose, she got super grounded by her parents. She's spent the whole rest of the week moaning about being banned from Fortune Lovers right as she hit a cliffhanger.

I got no sympathy for her, not after she ate all the damn cream puffs yesterday! We had like two, tops!
Well, you've proven that your Persona is locked to your NerveGear. Nothing more to do today in ALO.

Wait, the dual swords «Title»! Let's try it out!

«Dual Blades». You can't say you aren't tempted, but how exactly would it work? This wasn't SAO where an absurd equipment weight penalty made Dual Blades pointless without a special skill, you were in ALO. Nothing really stops you from using two swords beyond a lack of real-world skills. Thinking about it critically, the same applied to bows, spears and single swords.

Most ALO players, even high-level ones, had no IRL sword-fighting experience. Even for Kendo experts like Leafa you doubt skills from a sport were fully transferrable. Strangely enough, Sugou's explanation of memory helps put the Skills you were learning in context - it was not only a numerical measurement of your in-game ability but also an approximation of out-of-game abilities. As an ALO player raises their «One-Handed Sword» skill they were truly learning how to use a sword, even if it was a bastardized fantasy swordstyle in a game without death, pain or human limits.

You've seen some forum posts exploring the topic. Evidently, older players with generally stronger language skills found themselves leveling up Magic faster. Athletes found melee combat easier to use. Perhaps it was simple conditioning, people grinding the skills they naturally liked, but it seemed in some small way ALO was... modifying them. Teaching them. In its simplest form, memory manipulation was simply... teaching.

You hold them in your hands - vendor trash from Sigurd. A sword in one hand and a wand in the other.

It feels... right. Natural. Thoughts immediately flood into your mind - how to use the flourishes of your blade to hide the movements of your wand, how to exploit magic recoil to close in on your foes.

You were close to «Swilvane», which meant the mobs nearby were extremely weak. You spy a «Forest Boar», mere meters away, and charge forward wings outstretched. Your knowledge of Sylph magic was rudimentary, only basic wind spells— but that was enough.

A slice of wind catches the boar by surprise, the flesh parting to reveal a thin gash of red pixels. It oinks in agony, rolling on its side to face its opponent— but it's too slow. The second it sees you it also sees your blade, doubly so once you plant it in its eye. You carry your momentum through, swiping your wand in a burst of Sylph wind magic and the tree careens away, the projectile knocking over a wandering boar mob.

You sheathe your wand, grabbing a broken branch in your offhand. Another boar, this time coming at you in full charge.

You remember the duel. «Black Swordsman» vs «The Man of Legend». It made you feel helpless, useless— proving to you beyond any doubt that they were beyond you. SAO was beyond you.

But not anymore. The flurry of flashes, the fervent dance, it's now clear to you. What was once chaos is now order. The dance is too fast, but for once you can finally make out the steps.

The branch smashes into the boar's tusk, driving splinters into its skull. Don't pull back, don't raise your guard. Instead, you lean into the swing, bringing your body around like a top, your second blade twisting in the air.

And then you're past the boar, slicing it across the gut. The beast drops to its knees, unable to stand anymore, only able to squeal. The shockwave of your blade sends it rolling against the ground before it explodes into pixels.

This... is the power of a «Unique Skill». And it was just handed to you, hell sounds like you were one update away from this being handed to everyone. But was it any different than what ALO was already doing? Was teaching something as simple as a fighting style any more miraculous than teaching you how to fly?

C'mon, let's do that again!
...you've got some time to kill. And some stress to relieve. The forest could do with fewer boars...

You glance at your UI off in the corner. The ability came with a «Title», a piece of phantom equipment that appended a skill to your character avatar.

«Edge Punisher»

It's... very sharp sounding. Sounds like it was ripped straight out of some old 90s MMO. Kinda embarrassing to say out loud, but you quite like it! Besides, it was just a fancy accessory, not like anyone could see the «Title» beside yourself— this wasn't some old-school MMO where everyone's name had some big flashy achievement tag awkwardly appended to the end of a nameplate.

And if it gave you power, who were you to refuse?

>Your ALO username has been irreversibly and irrecoverably changed to «Lux: The Edge Punisher».
>Offscreen, your loud friend stole all the creampuffs! The hunger fills your heart with 5 DETERMINATION!

---